A seven-and-a-half month strike has ended at a factory in Merrill. But according to the union president, the strikers won’t go back to work right away.

Norma Schroeder says the Merrill Manufacturing Corporation will keep the replacement maintenance workers it hired. And the union members who walked out in late March will be put on a recall list as the replacements leave.

Thirty-two of the 58 local members of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers initiated the strike, saying they wanted fair wages. The company said it suffered significant losses, and it needed to cut employee wages-and-benefits to survive. In July, the union sought federal mediation. It was provided, and it helped reach a settlement.

If ever there were such a thing as malpractice for union bosses, America’s union members should have ample grounds for a class action.